Child development calendar

Our developmental calendar charts your child's progress from birth to five years old. It will help you to understand what your child understands, and answer questions like “How far can my newborn see?” and “When does my toddler understand the concept of others people's feelings?”

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There are few things in life more gripping than your child's development. From their earliest moments, we parents obsess about what our children are thinking, seeing, hearing and feeling. What parent has not agonised over whether an early smile was a sign of genuine contentment or the result of some digestive process? Here's what to expect:

A word about our development calendar

Please remember, not all babies and children develop at the same time and in the same way, so our development calendar may not always match your child. Development milestones vary widely. It's not uncommon to have isolated pockets of late development, such as late walkers and talkers, and some babies are slower to develop because they were born prematurely or because they're twins (or triplets). But a minority of babies and children do have delays in development that may need specialist help. If you are at all concerned, go and see your GP. No health professional should ever trivialise a worry you have about your child. If your child has special needs, you can get advice from other parents in our special needs Talk boards. We've also got pages with advice about diagnosis, support and benefits, plus our special needs webguide.